Campaign Summary
Campaign Summary - Robotech Earth 2016 In February 2016, a squadron was formed in the African Quadrant, at Ft. Niamey. Doricha Wyse, a Military Specialist/Gladiator pilot, was put in command, subject to Colonel Da Silva. Under her command was Gindrae Cyver, a former Zentraedi High Command Military Specialist, now second in command, with Isamu and Raoul Allebrecht, both ace Veritech Pilots. The squadron is a bit wild and undiciplined, and within the first week Doricha and Isamu get drunk and hook up, Isamu is nearly killed on a mission, and the squadron kidnaps him from his hospital room to go bar-hopping. Unknown to most of the squad, Doricha had psychic healing powers and was able to heal Isamu, preventing his death and speeding his recovery. At the weekly meeting with Da Silva, he decides to assign additional people to the squadron, a Private from the Southern Cross, John Raven. However, before this 'stabilizing influence' could arrive with the squad, Gindrae and others visit the Flying Neurosis bar to 'look for info' about their mission, and after a brutal bar fight, 3 patrons lie dead and the squadron is wanted for questioning. However, they were never identified, and with their departure to Lagos on assignment, they never draw any suspicion, and the homicides remain unsolved to this day. While adventuring in Lagos, the squadron has a run in with Kegare, a minion of General Zhu, as well as Max Lee, a mercenary adventurer who will take any job for the right price. Protecting convoys of supplies between Ft. Niamey and Lagos doesn't stop Gindrae from proving that he's a lady's man when he snags a date with Captain Emeka. Things seem to be going well until the squadron is transferred to the Red Sea Fort after an encounter with 5 EBSIS mecha attempting to take custody of an AWOL VT pilot and mecha. At this point, a PFC named Tahlro, who was another former Zentraedi High Command Military Specialist was assigned to the squad. While at the Red Sea Fort, tensions grow in the relatively boring and oppressive environment, and rumours that poison gas was released on the surface certainly don't help. After some incidental encounters with pirates, a fight between Gindrae and Isamu, and a food fight started by Raoul, the squadron is decided to be too disruptive and transferred to Fort Victoria. Things get more mysterious as a religious fanatic slips a laser to Tahlro and runs off to escape from some MP's, as well as some mysterious meetings. It turns out Gindrae and Tahlro might be involved in some sort of treason when they meet Captain Emeka and Max covertly, but that doesn't stop Gindrae from getting some action. Meanwhile, Raoul and Isamu rescue Da Silva's family from China, showing that there's some shady dealings in the upper echelon, when a man's family is kidnapped and used as leverage against him. While all this is going on, a random volley of missiles strikes the fort, an all too frequent occurance. More RDF presence would help push back the Zentraedi insurgent movements, but of course that seems to be slow in coming. In the middle of April, the squad is assigned to escort Major Stechan to Ft. Niamey. The major is secretly a member of Military Intelligence working out of the Scandinavian Quadrant, investigating suspicious activity in Africa. Apparently General Zhu's reports aren't adding up. Isamu, meanwhile, is approached by a spy, but manages to avoid reporting the incident. It's cool, because the next day after exploring the Lagos underworld, Gindrae is killed in action, and Phillip Sharpe is assigned to the squad to replace him. Phillip introduces everyone to his son, Rick 5-7. However, all the spy work that the squad was inept at doing comes to a head, and General Zhu begins a coup and launches the Landship, and decides to obliterate the Islamic Republic. After a few weeks of obliterating the infidels, Zhu then decides to attack Ft. Victoria, which due to the deliberate sabotage Zhu had been doing, falls quickly. Colonel Bakri is once again the sole survivor of his command, and shortly after being promoted, commits suicide. The squadron engages the Landship when it attacks Ft. Niamey, and although the Landship is disabled, the fort falls, and the squad is evacuated to Yellowstone. A surprise attack against the Southern Cross and intel about the survival of Govenor Vagras sends the squad back on a rescue mission. Secondary to the rescue is the assassination of Kegare, Zhu's right hand man. Tahlro is transferred to command another unit, and the top brass decide that with more advanced training, this squadron could become a significant force to be reckoned with, since they accomplished so much in the espionage-heavy African campaign with minimal training. Several weeks of intensive training show that the squadron has great potential when working as a team, but even more potential when it's members show initiative within a team framework. Siegfried Sasson, another ace VT pilot and recent graduate, joins the squad, as do PFC Orion Collins and Corporal Steve Riker. Collins was a SC Hovertank pilot/mechanic, and Riker was a VT pilot who saw action during the initial Zentraedi invasion. Indochina In preparation for a reconnaisance mission in Indochina, Jerik Parts, a Military Specialist and Military Intelligence agent and Vic Brandon, another VT pilot were both assigned to the squad. Halfway through June, mission briefing is over, and due to the dangers of anti aircraft weaponry, as well as a mined river, an over land route is chosen to travel to Outpost Base 1. Examination of the ruins uncovers a diary that speaks of some sort of alien contagion. Moving further into the jungle, the squad is ambushed at Outpost Base 2 by Coralin, a specialist in melee combat with mecha and an agent of Zaria. They manage to defeat him, with the assistance of a survivor named Anna, but learn nothing new, so after a brief recovery period, they move on to Outpost Base 3. It's fairly clear that the construction reports were falsified at this point, because most of the work at OPB 3 is unfinished, or in many cases barely even started. However, a late night assault with some female power armor costs Vic his life. After regrouping and repairing at OPB 2, the squad moves on to Outpost Base 4, where they encounter Zaria for the first time. The insane former Zentraedi, former RDF Officer attacks with her modified Female Power Armor and Core Unit. Max is killed in a volley of missiles. Isamu is injured, losing a hand, and Zaria escapes. Promotions for bravery in the field are issued, as well as some leave after the squad reports the events of their mission. During this leave, John reveals that he has some mystical abilities, and is able to restore Isamu's hand, but more questions about where he got these abilities remain. Returning from leave, a mysterious Zentraedi ship is discovered floating abandoned, so the squad is sent to examine it. It turns out that the ship isn't as derelict as it seems, but that doesn't matter because the squad manages to set off a chain reaction and blow it up. Returning to Earth, the squad gets more down time, where Steve and Sigfried enjoy their boxing hobby, John and Dori head to the family farm, and other assorted bits of relaxation occur. Until John murders some random guy in front of Dori, and she discovers that he's immortal. She keeps it quiet for now, not being entirely sure what just happened. Orion returns to active duty after his court martial. The next mission is escorting Ambassador Fendal, which turns out poorly as Orion is killed and Dori is shot in a gunfight. The mission is completed, and Dori manages to heal herself and escape the hospital. In the aftermath, they're assigned to air support in Indochina, based off the Prometheus. The month of August goes by quickly, with an investigation into corruption of 1st Lt. Rick La Roue, and his only request once captured is to protect his family. However, the remainder of the year isn't so quick to pass, as Dori goes on maternity until the birth of her child, Morgan Raven. Some intel is discovered about the location of a hidden Zaria base, and the squad neutralizes the base. However, Zaria is not present. Jerik is transferred back to the Scandinavian Quadrant, his MI assignment complete, and more intel is discovered linking Zaria and her Core Fighter Zentraedi designs to an attempt to get to the Zentraedi Control Zone, and possibly sneak into some manufacturing plants in Manaus. With Raoul now second in command, the squad is sent to stop Zaria, whatever the cost. Sigfried manages to shoot her down and kill her, but John encounters a strange being named 'Bob' and they duel in a spectacular fight. In order to save the squad, John opens a rift and brings 'Bob' through it, leaving the Earth behind. 2017 The new year begins with Varyan Odine joining the squad, a Military Specialist who pilots a MAC II. Her South American heritage proves advantageous since the squad is now assigned to South America. Routine patrols become much more as a communications tower is destroyed, launching Operation Sirius. As the surroundings explode into what will eventually be called the Zentraedi Uprising, things get heated, up until the squad decides to visit a bar while on duty, leading to a transfer to the North Americal Quadrant. Despite some demerits, the squad is still selected to test an experimental fold booster and investigate the Cygnus X-1 system for a reported Zentraedi base. The mission is completed successfully, but it isn't until June when the squad is able to finally return to Earth and enjoy a month's leave. Jerik returns to the squad, just in time for some routine patrols near the Arkansas Protectorate, and is involved in the accidental destruction of a RDF supply depot while attempting to defend it from a Zentraedi hit and run squad. Varyan is given a secret mission from High Command during this time. In the aftermath, the squad is assigned to fly to the Far East Sector and give a lecture to some new recruits. Unfortunately, the plane goes down. Both pilots are killed by restless natives while exploring the uncharted island they've crashed on. Attempts to manufacture a communications laser are unsuccessful, and Isamu is wounded by a wild boar, so Kiari and Sigfried stay at camp to watch him while the rest of the squad investigates a strange light. They discover Kris, a human-looking alien who's been stranded here. Fleeing from the natives, they discover that whatever was blocking communications is no longer doing so, and an air-lift is arranged. Raoul is informed of his sister's MIA status, and a black-ops mission is arranged to retrieve her from a Russian research facility. Isamu is killed in action, and upon return Doricha is relieved of command and imprisoned, and Raoul takes command. Back in South America, Raoul and company discover what appears to be a biological experiment involving protoculture that seems to turn people into werewolves. After clearing out the infected, and securing some of the research data, the squad is decontaminated by a black-ops crew. The data is successfully smuggled out, and is left in Dori's possession. 2018 Steve is threatened via letter, and finds a $5,000 hit out on him. Steve seems a bit unbalanced by all this, and after tracking down the ringleader, is forced into a Su Dai battle to win his freedom. He does so by severing the head of his opponent, and then walks out, keeping the severed head. In February, High Command assigns Dori, Kiara, and Varyan to a new squad for a special mission in France. The Black Ravens are assigned to act as security for Colonel T. Edwards. Mission successful, although Kiari and Varyan remain for other special assignments. Dori is re-integrated into the Player Squad. Routine patrols for most of the remainder of the year, until in August when a new recruit joins, Inserisca Il Nome, a cross-trained VT pilot/Military Specialist. After successfully completing their objectives in South America, they're transferred back home for some much needed R and R, only to find an air raid siren the following morning. Kiari dies in the surprise assault, and in the aftermath Dori and Steve both retire, Dori to focus on raising her daughter, Steve to become a military contractor. 2019 In March, after long hours of design, testing and development, Raoul's prototype YF-19 is selected as one of the potential new production models for the next generation Veritechs. Although it does well, despite some sabotages, it is decided that the Alpha would be better suited as the production model, partly due to it's friendlier accessibility to new pilots. 2020 Sigfried retires from active duty to become a training liason to the Southern Cross. Raoul, Varyan, and Inserisca are all invited to the wedding of Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, shortly before leaving earth with the REF on board the SDF-3. The SDF-3 departs immediately after the wedding, accidentally taking Lynn Minmei with them. The fold malfunctions, and takes longer than expected to arrive. 2025 October, the fleet arrives in Tirol space. They are surprised by the Invid, and the factory satellite fold system that brought the fleet is destroyed. Ghost Squad secretly captures an Invid Brain. Player Squad is involved in defeating the Invid garrison on Tirol. Lang starts returning Zentraedi to full size, so they can mine ore on Fantoma in order to build a new fold system to return home. The Sentinels arrive aboard the Farrago, and negotiations begin. Hunter and his faction join the Sentinels in order to liberate these aliens from the Invid control, and to gain allies against the Robotech Masters. Edwards and his faction remain to defend Fantoma. Sentinels depart for Karbarra, and are able to liberate the Karbarran children, freeing the Karbarrans from the Invid's control. Karbarran factories are being redesigned to make REF weaponry. 2026 Sentinels arrive at Praxis, and discover no one present. An ambush destroys the Farrago, stranding them. Investigations discover that some large scale excavations where strange evolutionary experiments are performed, however these 'Genesis Pits' seem to be causing tectonic upheaval on a planet-wide scale. Colonel Wolff arrives with a stolen ship to discover what happened to the Sentinels, and provides an escape just before Praxis breaks itself apart. It's discovered that Edwards has managed to convince the REF council that Admirals Hunter and Hayes have gone rogue, and the Sentinels mission has been branded outlaws. The admirals decide that freedom is worth fighting for, and decide to continue the liberation. Continuing on to Garuda, several key members of the Sentinels are captured by the Invid in a surprise attack. Player Squad liberates them, but not before they were exposed to the toxic atmosphere. Medical treatments stabilize the exposed, but are not enough. The advanced medical facilities of Haydon are needed to enact a cure. Garuda is liberated, and the Sentinels leave for Haydon immediately. With the Invid still in control of Haydon IV, Veidt recommends surrender in order to receive aid. Player Squad decides to try to sneak into Haydon IV, but it triggers the planetary assault system. Due to awesomeness, they're able to get past and sneak underground, while the wounded surrender and are treated. Turns out Janice is an android, sent by Dr. Lang, and Rem is a clone of Zor. Also, Sarna, Veidt's mate, is killed in the revolt against the Invid, and the Player Squad meets the Regent for the first time, just before he leaves in his Lobstermobile. Karbarran arms factories resupply the Sentinels as Haydon IV's reconstruction begins, and the Sentinels decide to liberate Spheris next. Burak is getting pissed that his planet is still not liberated. The liberation of Spheris is complicated by the crystalline nature of the planet, causing energy weapons to be a liability. The Invid don't care, but the Player Squad explodes them away. Miriya seems to have caught pregnancy and is taken to Haydon with some others for proper care. Meanwhile, with the main REF fleet, Lang manages to get Major John Carpenter a ship to go back to Earth and find out why they've lost contact, not realizing the faulty fold took longer than expected. In October, the Player Squad returns to Karbarra to re-equip while Burak's people are freed, and plans to reveal Edwards for the traitor he is begin. December brings the return to Tirol to face the council and defeat the Invid. 2027 Council realizes they were duped by Edwards, and Edwards flees Tirol for Optera, with Breetai in pursuit with the Valivarre. His secret Invid Brain that was allowing his quest for domination is killed. Breetai's pursuit is repulsed, although news filters that Tesla attempted to replace the Regent in a coup. Wolff leaves for Earth to find out what happened to Carpenter. Zentraedi blockade Optera to contain Edwards while the Sentinels finish the job on Peryton, Tesla and Burak sacrifice themselves to break the curse. Peace is proposed in May, and rejected. Breach planetary defenses and begin a ground invasion, Breetai dies but kills the Regent. Turns out Edwards is insane enough to try to take the Regent's place, and the invasion continues. Player Squad takes him down, and brings him back for trial. Edwards found guilty of treason, and sentenced to life in prison. 2028 In March, the Player Squad is sent back in an experimental ship to discover what happened to Wolff and Carpenter. Advances in fold technology have revealed that there was a flaw in the old design, and the delay is discovered. Player Squad returns to Earth. 2029 Fold still takes longer than expected, but the Player Squad is able to destroy one of the Master's motherships as they arrive. Unfortunately it cost them their ship, and they manage to survive re-entry on what's left. Debriefed by the Southern Cross, assigned to the 15th ATAC as liaisons. Turns out, external contact with the rest of the world is being cut off. Assaults by the Masters are being blamed on terrorists. Southern Cross assault incurs heavy losses, and the retaliatory strike is only fended off by the ATAC/Player Squads. SC High Command decides that maybe re-establishing communications with the moon base might be good. The moon base mission is successful, although the Masters secretly land a force on the planet to begin searching the SDF-1 wreckage. Dana and Bowie notice this while sneaking around, Bowie is captured and Dana gets backup to rescue him. The Masters withdraw and a cease-fire occurs until August. The Masters destroy a SC base, all hands presumed lost, although prisoners are in fact taken. Supreme Commander Anatole Leonard is pressured by the United Earth Government to retaliate. This retaliation fails spectacularly, however a weakness is discovered, and the 15th is air-dropped to exploit it. The mothership crashes to the earth, and a Ghost drone takes down the shield. Intel is gathered from the ensuing invasion, but it costs Privates Simon and Jordan their lives. Analysis of the intel reveals that the Bioroid pilots are human, not Zentraedi as had been previously assumed. September brings a raid on Monument City, and captures civilians. Leonard is finally forced to announce the Second Robotech War. Masters recover their ship, but lose the Red Bioroid in the process, Global Military Police recover the mecha. Carpenter finally arrives, but is shot down as he tries to break the Masters blockade. Carpenter is debriefed, and the SC learns that the REF cannot help in this war. 2030 Zor, as the pilot of the Red Bioroid is known, is assigned to the 15th in the hopes that his lost memories might be returned in a familiar military environment. This was perhaps the stupidest plan ever formulated by Leonard. He also decides to launch a major offensive against the Masters, which results in the destruction of Moon Base ALUCE, and the death of Private Kuri. Varyan ends up chatting up Martin Lee, a bartender, and Raoul does a bit of investigation, unable to find out anything more than 5 years ago, but an otherwise clean record, aside from a speeding ticket. Varyan and Martin seem to hit it off. Emerson's mission to reclaim a moon base succeeds, against all odds. Player Squad is tapped to provide a second front to the assault, and they invade a ship. Things go well until Emerson's ship impacts the mothership, killing Marino and Xavez, however Bowie manages to kidnap Musica. Zor rats out Musica to the High Command, but Bowie manages to sneak her out before the GMP can arrest them. Squad is sent in pursuit, and they discover that the Masters are after a protoculture matrix believed to be on board the wreckage of the SDF-1. Zor dies saving humanity from the Masters, but accidentally blows up the wreckage of the SDF-1, which fucks over the Earth again by releasing the flower of life to spread across the Earth. Oops. Most of the 15th retire from the military, some start looking for a way to reach the SDF-3 in space, others try to hold together the remnants of the SC and keep some measure of order. Things might work out ok, but in May the Invid arrive, having detected the flower of life. Player Squad is forced to extract everyone to a hidden base in Australia, but it turns out high tech bandits are already there. Martin takes a head, but no one actually sees the deed, so the quickening is passed off as some sort of freak power discharge or something, and he plays dumb. While establishing themselves and defending the local community, Player Squad meets Mayor Andras of Darwin, makes some contacts in Townsville, imprison a murderer that Martin later executes, and defeat an Invid Scorpion carrier before it can discover their hidden base. Sean is killed in action against the Scorpion. Research into cloaking technology proves fruitful, and Raoul learns how to build Shadow Cloaking devices. Also, a spy satellite is built to provide advanced warning of any REF fleet that might arrive. A proto-Genesis Pit is discovered and destroyed, with the cyborg child halfbreed that seemed to be the result of the experimentation in there. Giant cows liberated and a ranch for them was started. It turns out Dr. Lazlo Zand went crazy and turned the Far East Research Lab into his own private army, and the Player Squad invades with the help of Kris, who happened to be in the area. Turns out he had been largely imprisoned there for years, and after Zand is killed, he manages to teleport the squad back to Australia and himself back home. Townsville is discovered to be full of Invid sympathisers, but that's ok, as plans to build cloaked shield-breaching bunker blasters to take out hives are underway, and salvage operations to build them proceed. December brings the first test of the product, which is successful, however Martin is killed during the action. He gets better, and although Inserisca witnesses the death, he convinces himself he was mistaken due to the evidence that Martin is still alive. A night at the Four Winds Bar proves productive, as a conversation with the Regis enables a cease-fire, as she threatens mass genocide if the stealth bombs are employed in the future. 2031 Due to the secret satellite, Player Squad is able to assist Wolff as he crashes near South America, and help him establish his defenses while he makes a second resistance front in South America. Martin has an encounter with an immortal in Xanadu, it goes poorly but Varyan manages to save him. A reckoning is had as it's now out that he's immortal. Some roughed up cyclones are manufactured and used for a spy mission in New York. It turns out that the Regis was basically telling the truth, that humans weren't in such a bad state, despite being slaves. News of a new nation, called Elsewhere, reaches the squad. Inserisca is shot down on the recon mission. A return later ends poorly when Karola, a new recruit, loses control of her VF-19 and dies. After the funeral, the aborted mission is attempted again, and Inserisca is shot down again, but so is some strange prototype Veritech from Elsewhere. Decide to let them be for now, do some side missions while gathering intel, discover the RDF base Overwatch in Indochina. Link up with them to infiltrate a satellite factory that some hidden Masters seem to be summoning. The infiltration discovers a fully functional super factory with a self-aware AI in control, they manage to defeat the Masters and force the AI to flee while it considers what it's learned of the situation, unfortunately Angelo and the remainder of the Overwatch crew are trapped on board when it leaves. Also, Angelo managed to break his legs while exploring the factory, so there's that. Angelo returns in May with a Zentraedi Scout ship, the ship is destroyed by the Invid, but all on board manage to safely return to Earth. Various missions to enforce law and order in the world are undertaken with success, and in September Varyan and Martin get married. However, Scott Bernard is the sole survivor of the REF invasion fleet that was sent after the Player Squad. Wolff is discovered to be a traitor, although he dies saving Scott and almost redeems himself. 2032 Finally find the secret headquarters of Elsewhere, turns out they took over the old RDF Red Sea Fort. The assault against Elsewhere goes well, but is interrupted by Prince Corg, of the Invid. They fight him to a standstill, and he withdraws, but Invid reinforcements bombard large areas of Africa, finishing off what the Players started with Elsewhere. The remains splinter into various feifdoms. The REF main fleet finally arrives in April, and launches an assault against Reflex Point. All the major players are involved, however the REF fleet gets concerned that victory may be impossible, so it fires it's Neutron-S missile payload in order to destroy the Invid forever. The Regis has other ideas, and manages to turn the tables, preparing to destroy the humans, when the Haydonites arrive, betraying the humans. Realizing that the humans were dupes of the Haydonites, and not actually working for the Children of the Shadow like she thought, she instead flees with her people to another place, leaving those she rescued from Reflex Point scattered across the universe. The Player Squad now finds themselves in an unknown land, having left a battle in progress where all their Shadow devices no longer work, and an uncertainty whether the Haydonites or REF fleet won the battle that's started the Fourth Robotech War. Campaign Summary - Rifts Earth 105 PA In a brilliant flash of light, the party finds themselves on an unknown grassland. Before they can catch their bearings, they discover a large demonic being with multiple arms, bony protrusions, and a horrifying visage. It taunts them, but when the party fails to attack, it leaves them and tells them to spread word that Death is coming. A quick aerial survey determines that some sort of weapon systems lock on to the fighters if they pass a certain ceiling, so the party decides not to test their luck. Dropping down to a lower altitude, they soon find signs of habitation, and discover a small tribe of people who are sick. Some quick legwork finds the herbs needed to cure the people, and a hint that there might be people to the east who can help the party find what they're looking for. Stumbling across their first ley line, the party decides to camp some distance away, at the shores to an unknown body of water. After a run in with some sort of strange supernatural creature, they move on the next morning, flying offshore. It doesn't take long to discover that they're approaching what looks to be Madagascar, and they stumble across a camp. A squad of Coalition troops found themselves stranded here after an encounter with a rift, and gave the party information on where the NGR was located, in exchange for aid transporting them back. After a harrowing journey across the continent, where they encounter a Millennium Tree, some Phoenix Empire troops, and some random monsters (as well as another run-in with Death), the party finds a Splugorth Slaver making a deal with some animated corpse. The party rescues most of the slaves, and with some negotiation, sends the Splugorth on their way with some sabotaged munitions, and gives the corpse the strange Purple Diamond that he was trading for. Shortly afterwards, they hop the straight of Gibraltar and find a small outpost liberating slaves from Atlantis based on the coast of Portugal. A final encounter with Death prompts them to look for the corpse and retrieve the Purple Diamond, but it's too late, he's escaped. However, they do find more slaves, and offer to escort the whole lot to the NGR, where they settle down in a small town on the outskirts of the NGR, in the Monster Zone, defending the locals. Several months pass as they acclimate to this future world, with science and magic. Eventually, after negotiations with the NGR fail to reach a high enough official to be able to make any progress, the party decides to infiltrate the NGR in an effort to uncover a method to bypass the current chain of communications that are being stymied by some unknown person. This is mostly successful, however they encounter a strange person and Varyan tails him to a crypt where he steals some strange staff. After letting him go and reuniting with the rest of the party, it's determined that he was probably the same necromancer who had gathered the Purple Diamond earlier, and that it would probably be best if they took his staff. After a high speed chase along the roads of the NGR, they catch up to him and some lackeys and have a fight right on the side of the freeway. They manage to defeat him and claim his staff, as well as some power armor from his lackeys, however they are pursued by NGR officials and have a brief encounter before they're able to escape. Shortly after a rather noisy departure on a reconnaissance mission to the African Millennium Tree to investigate rumours of a gathering of heroes, a random Gargoyle patrol is defeated. Not long after that, it becomes apparent that a message got out from this patrol, and that someone used that information to arrange an assassination attempt from a mercenary squad, who attacked the party with considerable magical power and technological might. The party was victorious, but not without considerable damage. It was decided then that visiting a factory in Poland might help, as they might be able to barter for some machinery to replace their destroyed repair facilities, but the timing was poor, as the factory was attacked by a small group of Mechanoids who were intent on modifying the equipment to manufacture a small mechanical army to begin to grow their base in this strange place. The factory would have fallen if not for the actions of the party, however when the local militia arrived to mop up the mess, they were less than gracious about the aid. The party returned home with little in the way of physical assets, however the gleaned knowledge from Raoul's psychic investigation of the equipment may prove invaluable. Whether it will prove to be worth the cost of one of the party members being converted to a strange alien borg against their will will be something to be seen. People of the South Wind Meanwhile, the local trading caravan arrives, bringing with it a nomadic tribe who call themselves the People of the South Wind. Traveling with them is Doricha, looking for her daughter Morgan, who was stolen by temporal raiders. Dori joins the group when she learns they're fighting the apocalypse demon Famine, and in the ensuing combat she is killed. The squad mourns, but moves on. Soon after, the retaliatory strike of the Aerial Bionic Storm Behemoths arrives, in the form of an insane man and a nuclear assault. Several hundred million credits of machinery, as well as many lives, are sacrificed in a vain attempt at vengeance for the death of his brother, who it turns out wasn't even dead. Mussig is devastated by the attack, and the squad takes up Jorge's offer of relocating to Arequipa, in the Empire of the Sun. While establishing a factory to repair the mecha, the squad follows up on some world events, discovering the beginnings of the Juicer Uprising, as well as tracking down an ancient immortal named Talapyr. In one on one combat, Varyan totally beats him and takes his head, because missiles fired by a friend in a flying mecha don't count when you're in a duel, right? Soon after this, the squad returns to the millennium tree and searches for Pestilence. Upon finding him, they proceed to attack, but are lured into a trap as War appears. After a brutal fight, both demons are killed. A brief period of repairs and rearmament follow before the squad, through Jorge, are called to assist Viracocha in defeating the Necromancer's attempt to possess the final piece of the artifact he's been searching for. Intel for this attack was provided by an earlier encounter with him as he sailed up the Amazon in his giant hover-barge. Discovering his campsite at the edge of a cliff, they followed down the tunnel that had been bored into the rock, eventually arriving at a chamber that had a dimensional gate, covered with two different magical barriers. A hired mage was studying the barriers, and after a brief period of combat, he was subdued under 4 magical nets and psychically paralyzed, and then stepped on. With the mage dead, Viracocha was able to take down the anti-life barrier that blocked the gate, and some raw firepower was enough to obliterate the final magical barrier, and the squad stepped through the gate. On the other side, they were greeted with the bounding form of a puppy dog. With some intense concentration, it was determined that this puppy dog was actually a 60 foot tall demonic creature, with 40 spectral tentacles reaching out from it's back. After a brutal fight that destroyed large sections of the magically preserved cavern, the beast realized it's magical binding had been broken, and left for another world, but not before destroying one of the last mecha left to the party. Left to their own devices after the fight, the group attempts to meet with an NGR diplomat, but the meeting is abruptly cancelled after an assassination of the president of the NGR occurs. Returning home to bide their time, a new snack food called "Poppers" are discovered to secretly be demonic incubation devices, and the distribution of these snacks is tracked back to a small time cultist, and halted. A meeting occurs between a magically protected man identifying himself as The Necromancer, where he attempts to pay a considerable fortune to the party in exchange for the pieces of the artifact they have collected. The parlay does not go in his favor, and he is followed back to Paris, although the trail goes cold once he travels into gargoyle controlled areas. Meanwhile, Nom nom gets a message from his mentor Jes, and is introduced to the Mindwerk's facility. In an impressive bout of one-upmanship in the paranoia department, hundreds of innocent people die because neither side is willing to trust the word of the other, and after Jes is resurrected from the botched 'rescue', she details how her undercover operation to prevent one of the seven foretold calamities has been ruined. She manages to get an associate, Shotgun Billy, to attempt to infiltrate Mindwerks to continue her plan. Fortunately for the party, an NGR diplomat arrives in Cuzco, the Imperial Capital of the Empire of the Sun, and as part of establishing trade relationships also offers a joint partnership in developing mecha with the party. Arrangements are made, and 60 prototype VF-19's are created. The party decides to make use of them at the winter solstice, to guard their mages as they make many powerful magical talismans, unfortunately other people have similar ideas about using the greater than normal magical energy, and the party is attacked, leading to the deaths of Carl, Ted, and Amrit. Jorge was able to resurrect Amrit, but Carl and Ted are left dead until another mage can attempt the spell, as Jorge was unsuccessful in the ritual to bind their souls back to their bodies. Varyan let the party know that she'd been having psychic visions of an evil event, and with some divination they were able to determine the location of the event, which appeared to be a relatively innocent town in the grips of an evil cult intent on bringing the Harvester of Souls to Earth. A temporary alliance among several small magic-friendly communities allowed the party to recruit a sizable military force to assault and liberate the town, however collateral damage was significant, resulting in casualties totaling 20% of the town's civilian population and 55% of the military force. After a brief visit to commission some weapons from Triax, the party followed the mystical map Varyan possessed to see if they could find a lead on Carrie, gaining a lead that she may be in Atlantis. Randomly meeting Morgan in the woods confirms that Carrie went to Atlantis, and with this new intel the party decides it's best to settle things with Death once and for all, before the Phoenix Empire becomes too powerful with his presence. 106 PA While on a scouting mission in Rama, Varyan and Raoul encounter a mind melter in the astral plane, and duel him while attempting to prevent him from possessing their vacant bodies. This unfortunately leads to the discovery of a rebel base underneath the Pharaoh's palace, and it's subsequent destruction. Meanwhile, Jorge infiltrates the palace, only to find the Pharaoh waiting for him. They negotiate briefly, after the traditional tea ceremony, and the Pharaoh implies that the demon Death can be led to a certain spot outside of Rama at a certain time, should the head of the Necromancer be provided in exchange. After some reconnaissance, the group decides giving the Necromancer's head to the Pharaoh might be a bad idea, and decides to attempt to track down the Necromancer to parley with him. While waiting for their message to receive a response, a strange event occurs that shifts them outside of the normal flow of time. They eventually meet some creepy woman in this otherwise empty world who manages to "murder" most of them, allowing them to wake up in the real world. After regrouping, they find that both Zoe and Martin are nowhere to be found, and that neither of them had been murdered by the creepy woman before Jorge managed to kill her with his dying breath. While Martin and Zoe are lost, the party proceeds with plans to meet Viktoria in the NGR, and returns to find a master thief escaping with a piece of the Staff of Death, being chased by Zoe. It turns out that Zoe and Martin were trapped until the creepy woman returned and murdered them as well, freeing them from the strange dimension. Although the thief managed to spirit the artifact away with his two companions, the party managed to capture him, and discovered that he had been ensorcelled into stealing the artifact by an unknown person. After promising him a date with Zoe, they swung his loyalty toward the party, and he agreed to steal the artifact back, and has since left to do that. Meanwhile, the rest of the group went to run an errand for Viktoria, delivering a missive to a monastery in eastern Russia in exchange for a nuclear power plant for the base.